Poland saw the introduction of four major structural reforms in 1999 as the coalition government formed in 1997 by two parties descended from the Solidarity tradition, the Solidarity Electoral Action (AWS) and the Freedom Union (UW), strove to complete an ambitious agenda of democratic and market reforms. A health insurance program designed to rationalize health care spending and a local government reform intended to devolve power to local communities were launched at the start of the year. A sweeping pension reform saw its belated start in April. An overhaul of the education system took effect in September.

Political debate in 1999 centred on these four programs. All were introduced in haste, amid public incomprehension. Both health care and pension reforms ran into financial difficulties that required emergency bailouts from the state budget. Although the need for change in all four areas was both clear and pressing, and the reforms promised real benefits over coming years, the government was lambasted for trying to accomplish too much at once and for failing to ensure that proper funding was available. As the year wore on, the government’s popularity sank to historic lows; opinion polls indicated that the main opposition party, the ex-communist Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), would triumph easily if early elections were held.

Incessant infighting between the two ruling parties further jeopardized the government’s position. Hardly a month passed without some sort of a showdown, yet the prime minister, Jerzy Buzek, was too constrained by the competing factions within his own party, the AWS, to remove incompetent ministers or impose proper discipline. Cabinet reshuffles in March and September were too timid to satisfy either partner. The UW, led by Leszek Balcerowicz, the deputy prime minister and finance minister, pressed for a tighter fiscal stance, more consistent market reforms, and speedier privatization (particularly given the funding needs posed by the government’s four structural reforms). The AWS, while not explicitly opposed to these aims, strove by contrast to implement a conservative social philosophy (demanding, for instance, tax deductions favouring families with large numbers of children) and to appease its main constituency of anticommunist trade unionists.

Such frictions delayed the passage of legislation and played into the hands of the opposition SLD. The best example was Balcerowicz’s tax-reform package, which aimed to stimulate economic growth by slashing both corporate and personal income tax rates. Although the government approved the package at midyear, obstructive behaviour by AWS deputies nearly killed it in parliamentary committee. A resignation threat by Balcerowicz put the legislation back on course, but the parliamentary tricks required for pushing the bills past the SLD and into law in time for implementation in 2000 gave Pres. Aleksander Kwasniewski (formerly of the SLD) a pretext for vetoing one of the package’s three main components. Poland spent a suspenseful two days in November waiting to see if Balcerowicz would quit; financial markets reacted with relief when he did not.

A lacklustre economic performance limited the government’s room to maneuver. Unlike many neighbouring countries, Poland’s economy continued to grow in 1999. The pace slowed, however, with the collapse of exports to the Commonwealth of Independent States after Russia’s devaluation in August 1998 and as a result of lethargic growth in the European Union (EU), which accounted for two-thirds of Polish trade. The low point was reached in the first quarter, when year-on-year gross domestic product rose by just 1.5%. A rebound was building by midyear, however, and Poland looked to be on course for GDP growth of 4% overall for 1999, with a rise of at least 5% forecast for 2000. This economic resilience was praised by the EU, which had opened membership talks with Poland in 1998. Still, the EU faulted Poland for “sluggish” progress in adopting the acquis communautaire (the body of EU law). Lobbying for EU admission in 2003, Poland repeatedly pressed Brussels for a specific timetable on accession. Sticky relations with the EU contrasted with Poland’s ties to NATO, which admitted the country as a full member in March.

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